Katie Couric

Emmy Award-winning news anchor Katie Couric helped turn NBC's morning news show "Today" (1951- ) into a ratings leader during her 15-year tenure, during which time she also made an impression as a con...
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Olympian Mark Schultz has apologised for "the harshness of my language" in relation to a series of angry tweets about new movie Foxcatcher and director Bennett Miller. The wrestling champion, who is portrayed by Channing Tatum in the film, took issue with Miller's movie about his links to wrestling manager John du Pont in correspondence posted on social media earlier this week (beg29Dec14).
Schultz took aim at the director for refusing to axe scenes that suggested he and du Pont, played by Steve Carell, were intimate, stating, "I told Bennett Miller to cut that scene out and he said it was to give the audience the feeling that du Pont was encroaching on your privacy and personal space. I wasn't explicit so I didn't have a problem with it. Then after reading 3 or 4 reviews interpreting it sexually, and jeopardizing my legacy, they need to have a press conference to clear the air, or I will."
He ended his tirade by stating, "YOU CROSSED THE LINE MILLER. WE'RE DONE. YOU'RE (sic) CAREER IS OVER. YOU THINK I CAN'T DO IT. WATCH ME... YOU THINK I'M GOING TO SIT BACK AND WATCH YOU DESTROY MY NAME AND REPUTATION... YOU AINT' SEEN NOTHING YET DUDE... I CAN TOLERATE A LOT OF THINGS BUT I DON'T TOLERATE DISRESPECT. WE'RE DONE BENNETT."
Schultz, who was a consultant on the movie, has now apologised for his social media outburst, writing, "My story and my life are real. I am a real human being. While I may have tweeted out of anger, I in no way regret standing up for myself, nor do I regret calling out the only other man who has had decision making power concerning my image and legacy these past years.
"I apologize for the harshness of my language, but I am firm in where I stand. I will gladly go to any lengths to protect and safeguard the integrity and truth of my story, my life, my character and my legacy. If that's not worth fighting over while I'm still alive, I don't know what is."
Schultz reveals he is "under contract to support the movie until the Oscars", but he has plans to reveal "the truth" to U.S. newswoman Katie Couric afterwards.

U.S. talk show host Rosie O'Donnell has written a blog post slamming her former friend Stephen Collins after he admitted sexually abusing young girls.
The former 7th Heaven star confessed to inappropriate sexual contact with three female minors between 1973 and 1994 last week, a month after a recording leaked online of him talking about the incidents in a therapy session.
When the allegations surfaced, O'Donnell admitted she was "shocked and heartbroken" over the claims about her friend of 17 years.
Collins admitted to the allegations in a lengthy magazine statement, followed by a televised interview with U.S. newswoman Katie Couric, and in a new blog post, O'Donnell has blasted him over the admission.
She writes, "U (You) are not equals/she was an innocent child/a baby girl/u (you) have a daughter for gods sake (sic)/were u able to resist the urge to touch her ?/ how noble... congrats (congratulations)."
O'Donnell, who was a victim of sexual abuse as a child, then explains to Collins how his actions could affect others: "In case u (you) wonder... (what) ur (your) abuse of power/ur (your) lack of impulse control did to that kid... like many survivors of childhood sexual abuse... I became obese... I have struggled with severe depression... I have anxiety disorders... shame confines me...
"I bet stephen/there is a 52 year old woman - like me/sitting in her house/still frightened/her perspective skewed by u (you)/ur (your) casual lack of accountability/for her and for me/has wounded us/once again."
She also brands him a pedophile although Collins is adamant he does not have a sexual attraction to children.

Embattled actor Stephen Collins fears his past sexual misconduct with underage girls stemmed from his own childhood trauma with an older woman. During his first official TV interview since the scandal broke earlier this year (14), the 7th Heaven star told U.S. newswoman Katie Couric his early sex encounters may have helped him justify his actions with girls as young as 10.
In the news special, which aired as part of 20/20 on Friday night (19Dec14), Collins said, "I did have someone in my life when I was between the ages of about 10 and 15, an older woman, who repeatedly exposed herself to me, and I think that distorted my perception in such a way that some part of me thought... I got the equation of, 'Well, this isn’t so terrible. This person who I trust is doing it'.
"There was a power that she had over me that was intense... It’s also about a very distorted form of approval."
The 67 year old has admitted to behaving inappropriately with children between 1973 and 1994, but told Couric he never sought sexual gratification from his victims and is not attracted to young girls.
He revealed, "In 1973 there were two occasions when I exposed myself to this young woman and several months later she came to visit and stay with my first wife and me. My wife had gone to sleep and she and I were watching TV alone together and I took her hand and moved it in such a way that she was touching me inappropriately. Neither of us moved.
"I knew immediately at that moment, I knew that something unthinkably wrong had just happened that I couldn’t take back and I think we both just sat there. We really didn’t move a muscle and after about 45 seconds I took her hand and moved it back.
"I waited a couple minutes because I didn't know what to do or say and then I got up and left the room and I never had any physical contact with her of any inappropriate kind after that. That was the only physical contact I have ever actually had with any minor."
Collins' inappropriate actions came to light earlier this year (14) when audio from a therapy session the actor attended with his wife leaked online.
In his TV chat with Couric, he also confessed to exposing himself on two occasions to a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old girl, adding, "I did not know either of them really well but they were not strangers."
And he told the newswoman he has not engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviour post-1994, two years before he was cast as TV preacher Reverend Eric Camden in 7th Heaven.

Embattled actor Stephen Collins has insisted he does not fit the "clinical or dictionary definition" of a pedophile following his shock sex abuse confession this week (beg15Dec14).
The former 7th Heaven star hit headlines on Wednesday (17Dec14) when he released a statement confirming a slew of allegations against him are true.
He admitted he had inappropriate sexual contact with three female minors between 1973 and 1994, and has now explained himself in a TV interview with U.S. host Katie Couric.
When Couric asks Collins, 67, whether he is a pedophile, the actor replies, "I do not fit either the clinical or dictionary definition of it... A pedophile is someone who is mainly or wholly attracted to children. I'm not. I had a distortion in my thinking... where I acted out in those ways. But I am absolutely not physically or sexually attracted to children. I'm just not... I remember talking to this (sic) to a therapist and them saying that someone with that attraction would have acted many more times...
"(My actions) were terrible and I regret them deeply but I... don't look at young women that way. I don't and I never did. That might sound incongruous with those actions but those actions had more to do with the distortion in my thinking and a need for attention. It was not a desire to (have) sexual contact with them... That moment in '73 when the physical contact took place, it was the end... It was the opposite of excitement or gratification."

Troubled actor Stephen Collins has confessed the molestation claims against him are true. The former 7th Heaven star hit headlines in October (14) when audio footage, in which he apparently confesses to inappropriately touching young girls, surfaced online. The recording was made without his knowledge by his estranged wife Faye Grant during a therapy session in 2012.
Collins remained silent on the allegations but has now confessed to People magazine in a lengthy essay that he had inappropriate sexual contact with three female minors between 1973 and 1994.
He writes, "Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since. I've decided to address these issues publicly because two months ago, various news organizations published a recording made by my then-wife, Faye Grant, during a confidential marriage therapy session in January, 2012. This session was recorded without the therapist's or my knowledge or consent.
"On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago... The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth."
Collins confessed that he exposed himself twice to a female minor in 1973, when he was aged 25, and there was a third encounter with the same girl at his home.
He explains, "It was a completely impulsive act, and it's haunted me ever since to think of what I put her through."
He adds he has only apologised to one of his victims, writing, "I did have an opportunity to do so with one of the women, 15 years later. I apologised and she was extraordinarily gracious... But after I learned in the course of my treatment that my being direct about such matters could actually make things worse for them by opening old wounds, I have not approached the other two women, one of whom is now in her 50s and the other in her 30s."
The full statement will be published in People magazine on Friday (19Dec14). On the same day, Collins will be interviewed by U.S. news anchor Katie Couric and it will be streamed on Yahoo.com.
The 67 year old is currently locked in a divorce battle with Grant.

U.S. broadcaster Katie Couric is mourning the loss of her mother, Elinor H. Couric, who passed away on Thursday (04Sep14) at the age of 91. In a message on Twitter.com, the newswoman writes, "My heart is broken. I lost my mom and best friend. We love you and miss you, Mom/Granny."

WENN/Nikki Nelson
U.S. soap opera The Young And The Restless was the one to beat at the Daytime Emmys on Sunday (22Jun14) after scooping six of the prizegiving's top awards.
Currently in its 41st season, the programme has spent 25 years as the number one rated daytime drama in America, and it proved its longevity by landing a handful of awards at the Los Angeles ceremony, including its eighth win for Outstanding Drama Series. Stars Billy Miller (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series), Amelia Heinle (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series), and Hunter King (Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series) all won in the top acting categories, while the show also took the trophies for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team and Outstanding Special Class Special for The Young and The Restless: The Jeanne Cooper Tribute, in honour of the actress who starred on the show for 40 years and died last May (13).
On Friday (20Jun14), The Young and The Restless earned three additional Daytime Creative Arts Emmys for a total haul of nine awards. Another long-running soap, Days of Our Lives, earned multiple wins, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Eileen Davidson, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Eric Martsolf, and Chandler Massey for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series.
Other winners included Steve Harvey (Outstanding Game Show Host for Family Feud and Outstanding Talk Show - Informative for his self-titled programme), Ellen DeGeneres (Outstanding Talk Show - Entertainment and five additional Creative Arts Emmys), and Dr. Mehmet Oz and newlywed Katie Couric, who tied as Outstanding Talk Show Host.
Comedienne Kathy Griffin hosted the prizegiving at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and kicked off the night by mocking reality TV star Kris Jenner, who attended the awards show last year (13) on the same day her daughter Kim Kardashian gave birth to baby North West.

U.S. broadcaster Katie Couric is a married woman after tying the knot on Saturday (21Jun14). The 57-year-old TV star wed financier John Molner in an intimate ceremony in East Hampton, New York in front of 50 guests.
Before the nuptials, Couric told People.com, "We wanted to keep the wedding just very low-key. This is not my first rodeo so I didn't want to go too crazy and neither did John."
The pair began dating in 2012. It is Couric's second marriage - her first husband Jay Monahan passed away in 1998.
Couric, who has two daughters of her own, is now stepmother to Molner's son and daughter.

Michael Douglas, Oprah Winfrey and former U.S. First Lady Hillary Clinton helped veteran U.S. newswoman Barbara Walters celebrate her TV retirement on Friday (16May14) by making surprise appearances on her longrunning daytime show The View. The 84 year old's final episode as co-host of the talk show aired on Friday and Douglas, Winfrey and Clinton were among the guests who turned out to wish her well after a career spanning over five decades.
Joining Walters and co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd at the top of the show, former U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said, "I can't believe this day has come, and I can't believe it's for real."
Actor Douglas then reunited with his old pal to reminisce about their longtime friendship and gushed to Walters, "You're an extraordinary person, inside and out. You have the warmest heart, you are the most generous person I have ever seen, you give the greatest parties and I love you, I really do."
Media mogul Winfrey also appeared on air to heap praise on Walters, who became America's first female co-anchor of a network news programme in the 1970s, explaining, "You're the reason I wanted to be in television. You shattered the glass ceiling for so many women."
Winfrey went on to introduce a slew of female TV newscasters to the show to salute Walters, including Diane Sawyer, Arnold Schwarzenegger's estranged wife Maria Shriver, Katie Couric and Robin Roberts.
Walters, also known for her Most Fascinating People TV interview specials, won't be retiring completely - she plans to continue working as a producer of The View, the panel talk show she launched 17 years ago.

Actress Jennifer Esposito is engaged to her longterm boyfriend, model Louis Dowler. The couple has been dating since 2012 and he recently popped the question.
The Crash star confirmed the news on Thursday (01May14) during an appearance on U.S. talk show Katie, when host Katie Couric announced, "Jennifer just got engaged!"
Shy Esposito showed off her new ring and gushed, "He's lovely."
She also revealed they have already set a wedding date, but declined to give any hints about when or where they are planning to tie the knot.
It will be Esposito's second marriage - she was previously wed to actor Bradley Cooper in 2006, only to divorce a few months later, and she was engaged to Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis in 2009.
Dowler was briefly linked to British actress Kate Winslet in 2010 following her marriage split from director Sam Mendes.

In December, renewed contract with NBC for four-and-one-half years in a deal reported to be worth in excess of $60 million

Announced that she was moving to CBS to anchor the "CBS Evening News," which made her the first solo female anchor of any of the "big three" nightly news broadcasts; also contributed to "60 Minutes" and anchored primetime news specials for CBS

Underwent an on-air colonoscopy to raise awareness for colon cancer

Associate producer and writer for CNN's "Take Two"; eventually became political correspondent

Signed as the co-anchor for NBC's "Today"; hosted her first telecast of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Feature film debut, playing a prison guard in "Austin Powers in Goldmember"

Became assignment editor for CNN

Signed multi-year deal with ABC to host and produce syndicated daytime talk show "Katie"

Traded places for a day with "Tonight Show" (NBC) host Jay Leno

Signed four-year contract with NBC reportedly for a salary of $7 million per year (June)

Served as general assignment manager for WRC-TV in Washington, DC

Anchored the documentary "Everybody's Business: America's Children"

Worked as desk assistant at ABC News Bureau in Washington, DC

Made her debut as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" (Sept. 5)

Guest starred as herself on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace"

Summary

Emmy Award-winning news anchor Katie Couric helped turn NBC's morning news show "Today" (1951- ) into a ratings leader during her 15-year tenure, during which time she also made an impression as a contributor to a number of evening news programs and primetime news specials. Couric covered such historic events as the Gulf War, the Oklahoma City bombing, six Olympic games, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in addition to interviewing more than half a dozen presidents and heads of state during her time at NBC. Intelligent and serious, but with a grinning, girl-next-door quality that prevented some detractors from accepting her as a legitimate news journalist, Couric nonetheless rose through the television ranks to become anchor of the "CBS Nightly News" (CBS, 1948- ) in a move that made her the first solo female to helm a network news broadcast, earning her a much-publicized $15 million dollar salary.

Education

"I try to say things or do things that I know will trip her trigger in a certain direction." – Bryant Gumbel on Couric, quoted in Entertainment Weekly, July 31, 1992

"My dream job has always been to work on '60 Minutes,' with that incredibly impressive company [of reporters]. But I couldn't do it and still have time for my family. So you have to compromise." – Couric to James Brady in Parade magazine, June 12, 1994

Couric turned down an offer of about $20 million a year to stay at NBC in order to take CBS' five-year deal at near her current salary of about $15 million. – from CNN.com, April 6, 2005

"You have to be unwavering in your convictions that you're doing something good, because there are a lot of circling vultures that will eat you alive." – Couric to Esquire magazine, January 2007